Striker Marcus Rashford has opened up on the contrasting styles of two of his former Manchester United managers, José Mourinho and Louis van Gaal, describing how their approaches shaped him at different stages of his career.
Speaking in an interview with Gary Lineker, the 27-year-old forward, who was handed his senior debut by Van Gaal in February 2016, was asked which manager influenced him the most.
“I’d probably say Van Gaal. Jose, very different. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, they are different. We’ve had so many different managers, it’s so hard for me to compare,” Rashford replied.
Rashford explained that, up until Mourinho’s arrival in 2016, he had never worked under a manager so “fixated on winning.” When pressed on whether Van Gaal was less concerned with results, Rashford clarified:
“He was fixated on winning, but he wanted to play a beautiful style of football. Jose doesn’t care. If you win, you win. You move on to the next game.”
The England international admitted Mourinho’s approach frustrated him initially, but he grew accustomed to his demands.
“In the beginning, I was angry all the time. I was not playing well. Today we’ve won, but because we’ve won, and he’s just a winner, he doesn’t bring up the points that were missing from that game. But when we lose, he brings up the points. After like six months, I just learnt to respect it, and then I started to reap the rewards from him as a coach,” he added.
Rashford’s reflections come during a period of change in his career. After falling out of favour at Old Trafford during the 2024/25 season, he joined Aston Villa on loan in January, scoring four goals and providing six assists in 17 appearances to help Unai Emery’s side secure a Champions League spot.
This summer, Rashford sealed another high-profile move, joining Barcelona on a season-long loan, with the La Liga giants holding an option to make the deal permanent.
The forward will now look to reignite his career in Spain.
Watch the interview below:
@restisfootball 🗣️ “I’ve never had a manager so fixated on winning” @marcusrashford reveals the differences of the #MUFC ♬ original sound – THE REST IS FOOTBALL
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